Souter Retiring

Justice David Souter is retiring in summer.

Obama will have an opportunity to plant a fringe Leftist on the court. Terrific.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Justice David Souter has told the White House that he will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the court's term in June, a source said Thursday night.

The source spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for Souter.

Speculation that the 69-year-old justice will be stepping down has been fueled by his failure to appoint law clerks from the fall term.

National Public Radio reported that Souter will remain on the bench until a successor is confirmed.

The Supreme Court declined to comment on the report.

Souter's retirement would give President Barack Obama his first pick for the high court. Court watchers expect him to choose a woman to join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, currently the only woman on the Supreme Court.

Why choose a woman?

As a woman, I find that insulting.

Obama's nominee shouldn't need to have XX chromosomes to be considered worthy as a replacement for Souter. The nominee's qualifications should be the basis for Obama's choice.

The law is the law. A woman's interpretation shouldn't be significantly different from a man's interpretation. It is what it is.

We're talking about a justice, not a lobbyist or an activist for women's issues.

Replacing Souter won't change the balance of the Court. He turned out to be a lib. Obama will replace him with a lib. No big deal.

I think this Supreme Court revelation was leaked by the White House tonight to get people to stop talking about how royally f---ed up its response to the swine flu outbreak has been. That's not going to work.

Maybe Joe Biden was the source of the leak.